Just a Girl at Heart
by By the Sounding Sea
Summary: Andre babysits Trina's autistic sister, Tori. Much better than my lame description makes it sound.
1. Meeting Tori

**So this is my first published _Victorious _story. This is also my second multi-chapter (the first one's on Fiction Press under At the Edge of Insanity) and the first time I've decided to put the first chapter online without finishing the story first. I guess I wasn't sure how good it was. If you, the knowledgeable people of the Fan Fiction universe, think it's worth continuing, please send me a review saying so, and add this to your story alerts, as I'm sure I'll update again soon. And by the way, if anyone notices any inaccuracies, please let me know. I do have personal, daily experience with people on the spectrum, but only with Asperger's. Thanks so much! Enjoy!**

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"Hey, André," my best friend Beck said as he tapped my shoulder, grabbing my attention. I turned around from my locker to face him. He was pointing at a beautiful girl around our age who was wandering around the lobby, looking terrified and confused. "Do you know who she is?"

I shook my head. "I have no idea. But she looks scared. We should go find out what's wrong." I began to approach the girl, but Trina pushed past me and rushed to her side.

"Tori!" I heard her shout/whisper. "What are you _doing_ here?! Did Mom and Dad drop you off _again_?!" The girl she called Tori nodded. "Ugh! I told them not to do that anymore!"

"Is everything okay, Trina?" I asked as Beck and I stepped closer to her.

"Everything's fine!" Trina said hastily as she stepped in front of Tori as if she was ashamed of her. Tori pulled on the hem of Trina's shirt; Trina slapped her hand away and continued to smile at us. Tori looked like she was about to cry. Trina only noticed when she started to whimper. She put her hand over Tori's mouth.

"I swear to God, Tori, if you start crying here, I _will_ kill you!" she said in a hushed tone, but loud enough for us to hear.

"Trina, who is this?" I asked.

"No one! She's no one! Go to lunch!" Trina insisted. She opened her mouth to speak again, then yelped as she jumped away from the petite brunette, who was no longer on the verge of tears. Instead, she looked quite proud of herself.

"How many times do I have to tell you?! No biting!" Trina scolded her. Tori's eyes sank to the floor, but the faint smirk never left her face.

"I don't even know who she is, and I like her," Beck said.

"Me, too. Seriously, Trina, who is she?" I asked.

Trina sighed. "She—" Tori pulled on her shirt again. Trina groaned. "What?!" Tori pointed at the watched strapped to her wrist. Trina rolled her eyes. "Right. Noon. Feeding time. Alright, come on. I'll get you something to eat." She turned to us. "Follow me. I'll explain everything."

We all went outside to the Asphalt Café. Beck, Trina, Tori, and I sat down at our usual table with Robbie, Cat, and Jade. Trina grabbed a little cup of applesauce out of a bag Tori had brought with her, removed the foil, handed it and a plastic spoon to Tori, and let her eat.

"Why are you sitting here?" Jade asked Trina harshly. She then turned her attention to Tori. "And who's she?"

Trina sighed. "This…is my little sister. Tori."

"How come you never mentioned having a sister?" I asked, smiling at the quiet, beautiful girl eating her applesauce.

"Because I hate her," Trina said simply, her arms crossed over her chest.

"That's not a very nice thing to say about your little sister," Cat said matter-of-factly.

"I don't care if it's _nice_. It's the _truth_," Trina said. "I hate her. She's such a hassle. You can't leave her alone for ten minutes."

"She can't be younger than sixteen," Beck said.

"She is sixteen," Trina confirmed.

"Then how come you can't leave her alone?" Jade asked.

"Because she's autistic," Trina answered.

Cat gasped. "Autistic?! Oh, no! How long does she have?!" I sighed and slapped my hand over my eyes. Even for Cat, that was pretty bad.

Trina rolled her eyes. "All the time in the world, unfortunately. Autism is a developmental disorder. It doesn't affect her life expectancy."

"So she won't die? Yay!" Cat jumped up from her seat and ran over to Tori, who inched closer to her sister, clearly afraid of the harmless redhead. "Did you hear that, Tori?! You're not going to die!" She threw her arms around Tori. Tori screamed before pushing Cat off of the bench and onto the asphalt.

"What'd I do?!" Cat asked as she got back on her feet, brushing the dirt off of her poufy, pink skirt.

"A lot of autistic kids have problems with physical contact, especially coming from people they don't know," Trina explained as Cat sat back down. "She barely lets our parents touch her. Forget about you people."

"Why didn't you say you have an autistic sister? And I want a better answer than because you hate her," I told Trina.

Trina shrugged. "Do I need another reason? She's way too difficult. She takes away all of my time. You know how I spend my Friday nights and weekends? Babysitting her. Every. Single. One. That's why I never go out. I never have the opportunity."

"Well, today's Friday," I said. "We could babysit her for awhile, give you a little break."

"_WHAT_?!" Jade screamed. Tori dropped the plastic cup and spoon, spilling applesauce all over herself, as her hands shot up to cover her ears, clearly displeased by the sudden loud noise. Trina sighed, picked up the applesauce, and started to clean her up.

"What's the problem, Jade?" Cat asked. "I love babysitting!"

"I can't let you guys do that," Trina said as she put the dirty napkins on the table. Her words said no, but her eyes said, "Please, God, YES!"

"Why not?" I asked.

"Have you guys even _met_ an autistic kid?" Trina asked us.

"Of course we have! We're meeting your sister right now!" Cat said with a giggle.

Trina rolled her eyes. "_Besides_ Tori. I know you haven't."

"So what? We've all babysat before. You can leave us detailed instructions, we'll come over to your house, keep her in her own environment, and everything will be fine," I said.

Trina looked as us skeptically. "Are you _sure_ you want to do this?"

"No!"

"Yes," I said firmly, my voice overriding Jade's. "We're sure. After sixteen years of babysitting, everyone deserves a break."

Trina smiled a tired, grateful smile. "Thank you, André. All of you. Thank you so much. I really could use a break." She tapped Tori's shoulder. "Tori, look at me." Tori wriggled in her seat uncomfortably, still staring at the ground. Trina sighed. "Tori, _please_ look at me. I am _begging_ you. Look at me." Finally, Tori turned her head so she was facing Trina, but her eyes were focused on her lips. "Tori, I want to introduce you to my friends. Watch my finger." She pointed to each of us as she said our names. "This is André."

"An-dré," Tori repeated quietly.

"This is Beck."

"Beck."

"This is Cat."

"Kit-ty."

Trina shrugged. "Close enough. This is Jade."

"Jade."

"And that's Robbie."

"Rob-bie."

Trina moved her finger back in front of her face, then lowered her hand when she saw that Tori was looking at her again. "Would you like to spend the evening with André, Beck, Kitty, Jade, and Robbie?" Tori shook her head vigorously. Trina's face fell. "You-You don't?" Tori shook her head again. "Why-Why not?"

"People," Tori said.

"Too many people?" Trina asked. Tori nodded. "Well, okay. Why don't you pick three of them to stay with you? Would that be okay?" After what felt like hours, Tori finally nodded. Trina looked _so_ relieved. "Thank God. Okay, which three?"

"André," Tori said immediately, pronouncing my name more smoothly this time.

"Okay. You can have André. Now pick two more. I don't want to leave André alone with you. He might need help," Trina said.

"Mmm…Beck," Tori said after a moment of consideration. Beck looked like he was honored to be chosen.

"Okay. One more."

"Jade," Tori said.

"WHAT?!" Jade screamed. "WHAT?! Out of all of us, she wants _me_?! Forget it! I'm out of here!" Jade grabbed her bag and left the table.

"Uh…maybe you should pick someone else," Trina said.

"Kitty," Tori said.

"Yay!" Cat exclaimed. "She picked me! Oh. Sorry, Robbie."

"Even the retarded girls don't want you, Rob," Rex said. Tori threw the applesauce and spoon onto the ground when she heard the word "retarded" slip from the puppet's mouth. She started stomping her feet on the ground and banging her fists on the table. Every pair of eyes in the Asphalt Café was focused on us. Trina looked humiliated as she desperately tried to calm her sister down.

"Tori, stop! Please calm down, Tori! He didn't mean it!" She repeated that several times, and finally, after a five minute tantrum, Tori calmed down. She looked down and saw her applesauce splattered across the ground. She pointed at it as tears sprung to her eyes.

"What do you want me to do about it?" Trina said with a shrug. "You threw it, you have to live with the consequences. Now you don't get any applesauce." Tears began to roll down Tori's face and she started to wail. Trina signed heavily before she let her head drop to the table. She wasn't even going to try to calm Tori down. I decided this would be perfect practice for babysitting. I jumped up, grabbed a cup of applesauce from the bag I had seen Trina get the original one from, opened it, got a spoon, and held it out to Tori. She stopped crying immediately and stared at my offerings. Trina lifted her head to watch the scene. After a few minutes of contemplation, Tori slowly took the applesauce and spoon from me, then began to eat. I smiled proudly before I sat back down.

"Problem solved," I said simply as I pretended to brush dirt from my hands.

Trina smiled a little. "She likes you."

"She does?" I asked. Trina nodded. "How can you tell?"

"She took the applesauce. She trusted you. You're _really_ good with her, André. You're ten times better with her than I ever was or could be, and I've known her for sixteen _years_. You've known her for sixteen _minutes_."

I shrugged, pretending not to enjoy her praise. "Guess I'm a likable person. So should we meet you at your house at five?"

"That would be great," Trina said, wiping a bit of applesauce from Tori's chin with a napkin. "Are you really sure you want to do this? She needs a _lot_ of attention."

I nodded. "Yeah. We're sure. Don't worry, Trina. We like Tori."

"Trust me, you won't after tonight."

After seeing so many tantrums over the smallest things, I was wondering if Trina was right.


	2. 5:00--5:15: Snack

**Wow! I had no idea how popular this story would be! I got almost forty reviews, author/story alerts, and author/story favorites yesterday! My inbox is totally full! Thank you guys so much!**

**Binx193: This is going to be a Tandre story, but I like the idea. If this story ends up well, maybe I'll write a sequel with some Jori friendship.**

**This chapter is kind of short, and I apologize for that. I'll make the next chapter longer. I hope you guys like this chapter as much as you liked the first. Enjoy!**

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Beck, Cat, and I arrived at the Vega's house at five o'clock that afternoon. Trina came to the door and let us in a few minutes after we had knocked. She was holding two pieces of white paper that were both covered with notes. Tori was sitting on the couch, staring intently at the television. I peeked at the screen and saw that she was watching _Drake & Josh_.

"Okay," Trina said quietly so she wouldn't disrupt Tori's show. "I've written out everything you need to know. Her schedule is on the top. She'll watch _Drake & Josh_ for five more minutes, and then you have to give her a snack."

"What should we feed her?" Beck asked.

"It's all in my notes," Trina assured us. "Just follow the schedule exactly as it's written, okay?" She shoved the papers into my hand before she walked over to Tori and stood in front of the television. Since it was a commercial, she didn't seem to care.

"I'm leaving now," Trina told her sister. Tori didn't say anything. "I won't be back until it's past your bedtime. That means you won't see me until tomorrow. Are you okay with that?" Tori's eyes darted around the room nervously, but she remained silent. Trina sighed, then walked back to the door.

"Is she okay?" Beck asked.

"Yeah, she'll be fine," Trina said. "She's always been very quiet and shy. She was actually nonverbal up until a few years ago when she started speech therapy. Still, she doesn't talk much. Don't be too concerned if she doesn't say anything." She looked at her watch. "I have to go. Are you _sure_ you guys will be okay?"

"Of course. Go have fun, Trina. Tori will be fine," I promised her.

"Okay. Call me if things get out of control." Trina left the house just as the end credits of _Drake & Josh _started to roll on the screen. I looked down at Trina's notes and read them out loud to Cat and Beck.

"5:00 to 5:15—Snack time. There's a Tupperware of hard-boiled eggs in the fridge. Put three in a plastic bowl along with a cup of lemonade and bring them to her. She might need help peeling the shells off of the eggs, but don't help her unless she needs it. Make sure you put the lemonade in the mug with the yellow flower on it." I shrugged. "Easy enough." I sat on the couch with Tori while Beck and Cat got her snack ready. Her eyes brightened a little when she saw the eggs placed in front of her. She immediately picked one up and began to peel them. I smiled at the joyous expression on her face. She needed a little help, but for the most part, she was able to do it herself.

When Tori was almost finished with her eggs, Beck received a new text message. He looked at his phone and muttered a string of curse words that I'd rather not repeat.

"What's the matter?" Cat asked.

"It's Jade," Beck said. "She stole my car and 'put something weird' in the trunk."

"What'd she put in the trunk?" Cat asked him.

"She didn't say. She _did_ say, however, that if I don't get to my house in ten minutes, she's going to drive my car to Mexico through Immigration. And she assures me that it won't go over well."

"Oh, please," I said, rolling my eyes. "She's not gonna drive your car to Mexico."

"She's done it before, André!" Beck exclaimed. "Immigration was bugging me for months! I have to get home. Will you drive me?"

"And leave Tori alone with Cat? I don't think so," I said, shaking my head.

"Well…Well, then Cat, you come with me. I'll drive to my place, then you'll drive it back," Beck proposed.

"'Kay, 'kay!" Cat said cheerfully. She and Beck jumped up, grabbed my car keys, and ran out the front door. It took me a moment after they left to remember that Cat didn't even have her driver's license. I guess that's how I knew even then that neither of them were coming back.

I glanced at Tori; she was banging the porcelain mug against the table, telling me she wanted more lemonade. I sighed. Looking at the autistic girl sitting next to me, I had never felt so alone.

But then, that's probably how Tori felt every day. Alone.


	3. 5:15--6:15: Outside Time

**I know I said this chapter would be longer, but it's actually even shorter. Sorry. I've decided that I'm going to make the chapters pretty short, but that way, I'll be able to upload them more often. I hope that's okay. Regardless, I present you with chapter three. Enjoy!**

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After getting Tori a fresh cup of lemonade, I sat back down on the couch and took a few deep breaths. I was still really anxious about having to take care of Tori by myself, but I knew that I had no alternative. I looked at the schedule Trina had given me to see what I had to do next.

_5:15—6:15: Outside time. This is one of Tori's favorite parts of the day. Our backyard is pretty decked out. We have a closed-in trampoline and swings that she loves. If you put her in the swings, make sure you put the harness on her; she forgets that she's supposed to hold on, so if you don't, she'll fall out. She likes to wander around and explore, too. Our whole yard is fenced in, so it's pretty safe. Just keep an eye on her and make sure she's okay._

I set the paper down on the coffee table. It seemed like a relatively simple task. I just had to keep an eye on her.

"Are you ready to play outside, Tori?" I asked her. Tori's eyes lit up as she jumped up from the couch and ran to the sliding glass door that led to the backyard. She tried to open it herself, only to discover that it was locked. She turned around and stared at me, looking confused. I laughed, unlocked the door for her, and slid it open. She ran outside and headed for the swings. She sat down and waited for me to strap her in. I gave her a small push to get her going, then sat down in a lawn chair so I could watch her play. I smiled widely when I saw how happy she looked. I wondered if there was ever a time when something so simple had made me that happy. For a split second, I was almost envious of Tori.

Tori played on the swing for half an hour before she got bored and stopped. I removed the harness and helped her out.

"What do you want to do now, Tori?" I asked her. "Do you want to go on the trampoline?" She shook her head. "Do you want to play in the sandbox?" She shook her head again. "Then what do you want to do?"

"'Splore," she said quietly.

"_Ex_plore?" I asked. She nodded. I smiled at her. "Okay. I'll be sitting in that chair if you need me. Don't go too far." Tori ran off to another part of the yard. I sat back down in the yard chair and decided to call Beck while Tori was distracted.

"Hello?" Beck said, answering his phone.

"Thanks for leaving me here alone to babysit an autistic girl I barely know," I said.

Beck exhaled. "Look, André, I'm sorry. But do you have any idea what Jade had put in the trunk of my car?"

"It better be really good. Or, rather, really bad," I told him.

"It's _horrible_. It was—"

I never found out what Jade had put in Beck's car. He was interrupted by the sound of Tori screaming at the top of her lungs.


	4. 6:15--6:45: Dinner

**Thank you all so much for all of the reviews, favorites, and follows. I'm up to 68 emails from Fan Fiction, which is so huge for me. Thank you for following this story. I'm hoping the next chapter will be longer. Enjoy!**

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I hung up on Beck without saying a word, jumped up from the lawn chair, and ran towards the direction of Tori's ear-piercing shrieks. Once I was standing right next to her, I could see blood pouring out of her hand. She was sobbing and holding out her palm, showing me the large shard of a broken beer bottle sticking out of it.

"Oh, Tori. What did you do?" I asked her. Of course, she didn't respond to me. I don't know why I had expected her to. Instead, she shoved her bleeding hand closer to my eyes. "Come on, sweetie. I'll get you cleaned up." I ushered her back inside to the kitchen. Even though she was sixteen and only a few inches shorter than me, I still felt like she was this little six year old girl. And what do you do to little six year old girls when they get hurt? You put them on the counter and doctor their wounds there.

"Can I pick you up and put you on the counter so I can clean up your hand, Tori?" I asked her. She was still crying too much to be able to understand me. I decided to take a risk and lift her up myself. Thankfully, she didn't push me away like she did to Cat.

"Hurts, André! Hurts!" Tori cried as she shoved her palm in my face.

"Shh. It's gonna be okay, Tori. Just let me look at it, okay? I'm gonna get the glass out," I explained to her very clearly. I gingerly took her hand and _slowly_ pulled the shard of glass out of her palm. As I did, she let out the most horrifying, blood-curdling scream I had ever heard. I felt terrible, but I knew deep down that I was helping her. I put the glass on the counter behind me, far away from Tori, before I began to search through the cabinets until I found one near the door that was stocked with Neosporin and Hello Kitty Band-Aids. I prepared the bandage and stuck it over the slice in Tori's hand. The second after the Band-Aid was on it, Tori stopped crying. I smiled at her.

"All better?" I asked.

Tori nodded. "All better."

I smiled. "Good." I gingerly kissed the Band-Aid. I had expected Tori to pull away, but instead, she smiled at the kiss. She actually looked a little excited about it. But just as soon as the smile had come, it disappeared. Her eyes pulled away from mine. The spell was broken.

"Okay," I said. "What's next on the agenda?"

"Hungie," Tori said quietly, staring at the ground.

"You're hungry?" I asked. She nodded. I carefully helped her off the counter and grabbed the schedule off of the coffee table.

_6:15—6:45: Dinner. Tori's a REALLY picky eater. She always eats the same thing every single day. For dinner, she likes the spaghetti and meatballs Kid Cuisine. There's a bunch in the freezer. All you have to do is put it in the microwave and follow the instructions on the box. Oh, by the way, if you couldn't tell by the way she got applesauce all over herself, Tori's a messy eater, and she's even worse with spaghetti. AND she's not too fond of forks. Have fun. By the way, help yourself to anything in the freezer. Just not the Kid Cuisines. Those are Tori's, and she does NOT like to share._

"Well, it makes sense that you're hungry," I said to Tori. "According to the paper your sister gave me, it's dinner time. Come sit at the table while I cook it for you."

Tori sat down on the kitchen table and waited patiently as I microwaved her dinner, entranced by the pink bandage stuck to her hand. When it was finished, I placed the blue tray of food and a fork in front of her, then turned back to the freezer to find something I could eat myself. Unfortunately, there was nothing in there but Kid Cuisines. I would have just blown it off, but I was starving, and I knew that I still had a long night ahead of me. I wasn't even sure if Tori understood the concept of sharing, but I had to try. I grabbed a chicken nugget Kid Cuisine and brought it over to her. I noticed that her food was still untouched.

"Why aren't you eating, Tori?" I asked her. She just pointed at me. You're waiting for me?" She nodded. "That's very sweet. I was wondering if you would be willing to share this with me." Tori looked at me blankly. "If you share this with me, it means that I'll eat it, and you won't be able to later. Do you understand?" Tori nodded. "Are you still okay with it?" Tori stared at the box in my hand for a long, _long_ time, then slowly nodded. I smiled. "Thank you, Tori. That's very nice of you. You can go ahead and start eating. I'll be there in a minute." I turned around and cooked the frozen meal, then brought it back to the table. When I sat down across from Tori, I saw that she had started to eat, but with her hands, not her fork. There was spaghetti sauce all over her face, hands, and shirt. I had to laugh.

By the time 6:35 rolled around, Tori and I had both finished eating, but cleaning her up was going to take some time. I helped her out of the chair, making sure she didn't touch anything along the way, and walked her to the kitchen sink. I grabbed a rag to wash her face, then helped her wash her hands, too. I just wasn't sure what to do about the shirt. I didn't even know if she could dress herself. I decided that there are worst things than walking around your own house with a spaghetti stained shirt. I turned off the water and grabbed the schedule.

"Okay," I said. "What's next?"


	5. 6:45--8:30: Free Time

**Wow! 81 emails and 30 reviews! I feel so special. Thank you all for your support. Please keep sending me reviews! Those are what keep me writing!****I'm pretty sure everyone (especially Tandre fans) will enjoy this chapter.**

**It has also just come to my attention that I never made the obscenely obvious statement that I do not own _Victorious_, so pretty, pretty please, don't sue me, though it is the great American past time. Enjoy!**

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_6:45—8:30: Free time. Tori likes to go to the play room upstairs. She loves puzzles, and we have a bunch up there. She also really likes to play with blocks. I know that sounds childish, but you have to remember that Tori really is a child. If she gets bored in the play room, take her back downstairs and let her play the piano. She loves to play the piano. If you want to, André, you can play with her._

I looked at Tori. She was sitting on the couch, rocking back and forth. I had no idea that she could play the piano. I wondered if she was any good.

"Do you want to show me your play room, Tori?" I asked her. She nodded, smiling slightly, before she jumped up and ran upstairs. I followed her up the stairs, down the hall, and into a large room with lavender walls. There were all sorts of games and books on the shelves along the walls. There was also a large table towards the middle of the room with big balls instead of chairs. Tori had already headed towards a bookshelf with clear Tupperware boxes lining every inch. She pulled one out and set it down on a mat towards the corner. I sat down next to her on the floor and helped her open the box. There were a bunch of blocks inside. She picked one out and handed it to me.

"You want me to build something with you?" I asked her. She nodded. "Okay. What should we build?" Tori shook her head. "We don't build anything?" She shook her head again. "Oh. Then what do you want to do with the blocks?" Tori began to stack the blocks into a tower. I shrugged and mimicked her. I was making even towers with ten blocks in each one. Tori, on the other hand, was trying to put all of them in one.

"Careful, Tori," I warned her after I saw her tower starting to wobble. "If you put too many blocks in one tower, it might—" Before I could finish my sentence, Tori's tower collapsed. I braced myself, waiting for her to have a meltdown. It didn't take long. Her lip quavered as tears filled her eyes. I really didn't want her to start crying again, so I did the first thing I could think of: I knocked down all of my towers, too. At first, Tori covered her ears, startled by the sound. After she realized that the noise was gone, she put her hands to the side and smiled at me. And I smiled back. And _again_, the second I did, she looked away from me. She hid in her own little world. I just wanted to get to know her. I wished she would let me in.

"Are you okay, Tori?" I asked her. She nodded. "You're not going to cry?" She shook her head. "That's very good. I'm proud of you. Now come on. I'll show you how to stack these so they won't fall over."

We played with the blocks for a good half hour. Even though I felt like I was in kindergarten again, I will admit that I had fun playing with Tori. She was such a sweet girl deep down. She just didn't know how to show it.

By the time we had put all of the blocks away, it was 7:20; Tori still had an hour and ten minutes until her play time was over. She worked on a puzzle for another half an hour at the table with the big balls, but she soon grew bored with it and put it away. That was a nice thing about this girl; except when it came to food, she was very neat.

"You have about forty minutes left. What do you want to do now?" I asked her. She made a banging motion with her hands. "I-I'm not sure what that means, Tori." She did it again with an increasingly frustrated expression. "Is that a piano? You want to play the piano?" Tori nodded, thankful that I had understood her. "That sounds fun. Come on. We'll go play piano."

Tori and I went back downstairs to the living room and sat down on the piano bench together. Tori raised her hands over the keys and thought for a few minutes. I was excited to see what she could do. I had heard of autistic savants; the idea that Tori could have been a piano prodigy was exhilarating.

I shouldn't have been as disappointed as I was when I found out that she was no prodigy pianist. She wasn't _terrible_. She had the passion. She just didn't have the fine motor skills the piano required. I felt so bad for her; she was clearly trying, but she just couldn't make it sound right, and I could tell that she couldn't figure out why.

"Here," I said, gently moving her fingers to the keys as I spoke each note for "Twinkle, Twinkle." "It's C, C, G, G, and then one A." Tori stared at me blankly. I slowly laid her hand back on the keyboard, realizing that I probably shouldn't have touched her. But she actually looked a little disappointed when the contact ended. She shrugged and did as I told her. It was slow and choppy, but it sounded a lot better.

"You play," Tori said quietly.

"You want me to play?" I asked her. She nodded. "Well, your wish is my command." I put my fingers over the keys and played "Song to You" for her. I never took my eyes off of Tori while I played. She was swaying back and forth to the rhythm of the music, looking really happy. I felt so honored that I was able to bring such joy to such a special girl.

"More," Tori said when I finished.

"You want me to play _more_?" I asked. She nodded vigorously. I laughed, then played "Tell Me That You Love Me." By the time I had finished, Tori was half asleep, leaning against my shoulder. I looked at my watch and saw that play time was over. It was time to start winding down Tori's strictly organized day.


	6. 8:30--9:00: Bath Time

**Sorry for the slight delay. We had a long weekend before, but now I have to go back to school. Regardless, I'm uploding now! I present you all with chapter six! Enjoy!**

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Before Tori could literally fall asleep on me, I grabbed the schedule from my pocket, unfolded it, and read the next step. I felt my heart sink to my feet.

_8:30—9:00: Bath time. Unfortunately, Tori can't bathe herself. I'd have you skip this, since I know it must be awkward for you guys to bathe a sixteen year old girl, but skipping a step in her routine probably wouldn't go over very well with Tori. But as long as you have Cat do it and André and Beck stay outside, it'll be fine._

I let the paper float in my lap, leaving half of the instructions unread. It would have been fine, if they hadn't ditched me hours ago. I looked at Tori. I wouldn't have cared as much if she actually was six. But she was _not_ six years old. I knew that as a sixteen year old boy with raging hormones, I couldn't bathe her alone. I pulled out my phone and speed dialed Cat.

"Hi!" she said cheerfully as she picked up her phone.

"Cat, I need you to get over here," I told her hastily.

"Why?"

"Because I need you to give Tori a bath."

"Why can't you do it?"

"Well…you know," I said awkwardly. "Because she's…a girl. A very pretty…developed girl with…you know…"

"Boobs?" Cat offered.

"Shh! Cat! Don't say that word!" I scolded her.

"What word? Boobs?"

"Shh! Yes!"

"Why can't I say boobs?"

"And she says it again," I said, rolling my eyes. "Look, just get in my car and drive over here so you can give Tori a bath, and then we'll all live happily ever after."

"Yay! I love fairy tales!"

"Of course you do. So are you coming?"

"Uh…I don't think so," Cat told me.

"What? Why not?"

"Well, I don't have my license, and Beck and Jade are…unavailable."

"What do you mean? What are they doing?"

"They're making out."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course they are. Listen to me, Cat. I don't care how you get here. Just get here in the next ten minutes, preferably with my car. I've been taking care of Tori all night by myself. I think the least you can do is come over here and give Tori a bath so I don't feel like a freaking pedophile!"

"What's a pedophile?" Cat asked me.

"Oh, my God," I groaned. "It doesn't matter! Just come!" I hung up on Cat and put my phone back in my pocket.

"You yell," Tori said quietly. I looked at her and saw that she had her hands covering her ears. I felt terrible.

"I'm so sorry, Tori. I didn't mean to yell," I told her. "Come upstairs with me, okay? You're going to play in your play room while I get your bath ready. Does that sound good?" Tori nodded before she slid off the piano bench. I took her upstairs and set her up with a book that she was way too old for in the play room. I went to the bathroom next door and started to fill up the bathtub. After fifteen minutes had passed, the tub was full and Cat still hadn't arrived. I was about to give up and just wash Tori myself, when I looked out the window and saw two pairs of headlights pull into the driveway. Cat, Beck, and, much to my surprise, Jade met me in the bathroom a minute later.

"The prodigal son returns," Beck said.

"About time." I was angrier than I thought I was about them deserting me. "Why'd you bring Jade?"

"It was the only way she'd let me come," Beck admitted, looking rightfully ashamed that he let his girlfriend control him so easily.

"Whatever. Cat could use the help," I said. "Tori's in the play room."

"She has a play room?" Jade asked. Beck gave her a look.

"Yes, Jade. She does," I said as I led them towards Tori. She was almost finished with the picture book I had given her.

"Are you ready for your bath, Tori?" I asked her. She nodded, putting the book away. "Jade and Kitty are going to help you. Is that okay?" Tori glared at Jade and Cat before shaking her head. "Why not?"

"Want you," she told me. "Like you."

"I like you, too," I told her. "But I can't help you take a bath."

"Want André," Tori stated, crossing her arms firmly.

"After Kitty and I give you a bath, everyone but André will leave again," Jade told her. "You'll have him all to yourself. Does that sound good?" Tori stared at her skeptically.

"I'll be right outside the door if you need me, okay?" I told Tori. "Don't worry. Kitty and Jade are really nice." After a few minutes of consideration, Tori nodded. I walked her to the bathroom, then closed the door, leaving her alone with Cat and Jade.

"So why'd you hang up on me earlier?" Beck asked.

"Oh," I said. "Some idiot left a broken beer bottle in her backyard. Tori cut herself on it."

"Who do you think did that?" Beck asked. "I'd imagine her parents wouldn't keep alcohol in the house. Tori could get into it."

"I don't know. I didn't think about it," I admitted. "It was probably a neighbor."

"That fence is huge, and there are easier ways of throwing away a beer bottle," Beck pointed out. "I'm betting it's Trina's."

I shook my head. "No way. Trina babysits Tori almost all the time. She wouldn't drink around her."

"Are you sure? Because at lunch, she didn't seem to care about her very much," Beck said. "Maybe she gave Tori a little to shut her up when she was crying."

I was surprised when I didn't find Beck's idea to be crazy. If I found out that Trina actually _had_ given Tori beer, I was going to kill her.

"Let's talk about something else, okay?" I said, wanting to move away from the unpleasantness of Trina dosing Tori with booze.

"Okay. What do you want to—"

"You're overreacting, André!" Jade yelled from inside the bathroom. "She barely has any boobs!"

"Shut up and do your job!" Beck told her.

"Excuse me?!" Jade screamed. "Don't you sass me, Beck Oliver!"

"Stop it, you guys!" I exclaimed. "Tori doesn't like it when people scream."

"Come on, Jade. Help me get her in the tub," I heard Cat say. Jade huffed, but she must have done as Cat said, as I heard water moving.

"Okay, you're supposed to wash her body with the purple bar of soap first," I instructed the girls. I heard Tori giggling inside as she splashed around while Jade and Cat washed her.

"What now?" Jade asked after a few minutes.

"Now you're supposed to use the baby shampoo to wash her hair," I told them. "She underlined the baby shampoo part."

"But she's not a baby," Jade said. "She shouldn't be using baby shampoo if she's not a baby."

"Look! This one's the same color as my hair!" Cat exclaimed.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but only use the baby shampoo," I said firmly, nervous for what was coming next.

"Let's use the pretty pink shampoo, Cat," Jade said.

"No! Do not use the pretty pink shampoo! Use the baby shampoo!" I said frantically. But it was too late. A few seconds later, I heard Tori screaming. I immediately ran inside, grabbed a towel, and started to dab at her eyes.

"What'd we do?" Cat asked.

"You got shampoo in her eyes, and since you didn't use the right kind, it hurt her," I explained, furious with both Jade and Cat. Tori was still crying, even after I had wiped all of the shampoo out of her eyes.

"Oh, whatever," Jade said dismissively. "She's sixteen. She shouldn't be using baby shampoo and she shouldn't have people bathing her and she should be able to handle a little shampoo in her eyes!"

"She's autistic, Jade!" I exclaimed. "She can't help it!" Tori had wrapped her arms around my neck and was crying into my shoulder. My shirt was soaked, but I didn't care. "Just get out of here, okay? I can take care of her by myself."

"André," Beck said from the doorway. He could tell how pissed I was. "Come on, man. It's just a little shampoo. It's not a big deal."

"You get out, too," I said. "You abandoned me when I needed your help. And you didn't just abandon me. You abandoned her, too. That's what I'm really mad about."

"You seem to have taking quite a liking to this girl," Beck said.

"Yeah. I have," I told them as I carefully began to rinse the rest of the shampoo out of Tori's hair. I heard Beck sigh behind me. By the time I turned around again, I was thankful to discover that they were all gone. I helped Tori out of the tub and wrapped her in a towel. I took a step back and looked at her. She was chewing nervously on the end of the towel.

"Sorry?" she whispered questioningly. Her face told me that she had said the simple word in complete honesty, unsure if she had said the right thing.

"Why are you sorry?" I asked her. Tori shrugged. "You don't know?" She shrugged again. "You don't need to be sorry, Tori. It's not your fault."

"Really?" Tori asked as I sat her down on the closed toilet so I could brush out her curly wet hair.

"Really. You didn't do anything wrong. I promise."

"Oh. Okay," Tori said. But I don't think she believed me.


	7. 9:00--9:30: Lights Out

**PLEASE READ! This will be the last chapter of _Just a Girl at Heart_. Don't be sad, though! I've already written the first chapter for an untitled sequel in which Jade babysits Tori. It sounds similar, which it is, but it will be very different, I promise. I've also had another plot bunny bouncing around in my head for a long time. I've been thinking of writing a story where Tori is deaf, but I don't have many details planned out for it. If that's something you guys would be interested in reading, please let me know.**

**Thank you all for following this story. All of your reviews and story/author favorites have made me feel so good and meant so much to me. Thanks again and enjoy the final chapter!**

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After I helped Tori brush her teeth and change into her pajamas, I tucked her into bed and sat with her for fifteen minutes before she fell asleep. Once I was sure she wasn't going to wake up again, I went down to the living room and flicked through the channels aimlessly for an hour before Trina came stumbling through the front door.

"Hey, Aaaandré," she said, dragging out my name.

"Uh, hello," I said as I turned off the television. "How was your night?"

"Oh, it was the bestest," she slurred. Trina fell onto the couch next to me. I could smell the alcohol on her breath. I stood up and let her have the entire couch.

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Oh, you know. Just hung out with some friends," she said vaguely.

"Friends, huh? Anyone I know?"

"Do you drink?"

"No."

"Then I doubt it."

"I see," I muttered. "Well, things went well here, in case you were wondering."

"Oh, yeah. How'd that babysitting thing go? Was she terrible?"

"No, actually. Tori's a great girl," I said.

"Huh. After an evening with her, I would have thought you'd think what everybody else thinks about her," Trina said.

"And what does everybody else think about her?"

"Everybody else in the world hates her," Trina said. "_Everyone_ hates her. I hate her, our parents hate her. If she had friends, they would hate her. Everyone hates her."

"I highly doubt that's true," I said.

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, why don't you get outta here?" Trina said.

"I don't think I'll be leaving just yet," I told her. "You're wasted. I'm not leaving you alone with Tori when you're drunk."

"Oh, please," Trina said with a laugh. "I babysit her while I'm drunk all the time. Tori doesn't know the difference."

"Really?" I said, trying to contain my rage. "Ever give Tori alcohol?"

"Only when she's crying. It's the only way to shut her up."

I couldn't believe it. Beck was right. Not only did Trina drink around Tori, she dosed her, too. I don't think I had ever been as furious as I was then.

"You can't do that, Trina. It's terrible for her and it's terrible for you. Not only is it terrible, it's also illegal," I reminded her as calmly as I could.

"Yeah, well, it's illegal to rob banks, but people do it," Trina said. "Anyway, I guess I should thank you for babysitting her, huh?"

"You don't have to thank me. I enjoyed it," I told her.

Trina scoffed. "And you seem so normal. Why would you enjoy it?"

I shrugged. "Why wouldn't I? Tori's great."

"She's not great," Trina said. "She's got an IQ of, like, seven!"

"She's really smart. She learns really fast," I said, thinking about our mini piano lesson.

"Bullshit! It's been _sixteen_ _goddamn years_, and she still hasn't learned to bathe herself or button her shirt or use a microwave or anything!" Trina yelled.

"Shh! Tori's sleeping!" I scolded Trina, but since she was drunk, I knew it wouldn't matter. "And she would have been able to learn to do all that."

"Yeah, if she wasn't retarded," Trina said.

That was the final straw. I felt my face grow hot. "_What_ did you just call her?"

Trina looked right at me. "Retarded. I called her retarded. Know why? 'Cause that's exactly what she is! She's a fucking retard!"

At that moment, I slapped Trina's face as hard as I possibly could. I never thought I was capable of physically harming another human. But that was before I met Tori. That was before I met this poor, defenseless girl who just needed a little help to function in life. But she was surrounded by people who didn't give a crap about her. It was absolutely heartbreaking.

"Tori is _not_ retarded!" I yelled. "She's a million times smarter than you, you stupid, ignorant bitch!"

"You just met her today! Why are you so protective of her?" Trina asked.

"Because no one else is!" I shouted.

"André?" I heard a small voice say from the staircase. I turned and saw Tori standing on the landing, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"I'm sorry, Tori," I said. "I didn't mean to wake you up. Go back to your room. I'll be there in a minute."

"Tina!" Tori said cheerfully, leaving the R out of her sister's name. She ran down the second half of the stairs and tried to hug her. Trina pushed Tori as hard as she could; she fell to the ground with a loud thud.

"Get the hell away from me," Trina said before she went upstairs. I helped Tori stand up. She had tears in her eyes.

"Tina hurt me," Tori whimpered.

"I know she did," I said quietly as I wrapped my arms around the skinny girl. "I'm sorry, Tori. I'm sure she didn't mean it. Come on, sweet girl. Let's go upstairs." I led Tori back to her room and put her back in bed. I sat on the floor next to her for a few minutes, never letting go of her hand.

"André?" she said quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Like you more than Tina," Tori told me. "Nicer to me."

"Well, I'm glad you like me," I said.

"Come back soon?" Tori asked.

I nodded. "Count on it, baby." A minute later, her eyes fluttered closed and she fell asleep. I squeezed her hand and sighed.

Babysitting Tori had been one of the most stressful evenings of my life. But it was also very eye opening. I had never met anyone with autism before, and seeing how much it affected Tori made me realize just how lucky I was to be normal.

It broke my heart that Tori was and probably always would be defined by a label. Autistic. To most people, I knew that was all she would ever be. But to me, she was so much more. She was sweet. She was funny. She was playful. She was caring. She was quirky and a little weird in the best sense of the word. And yes, she was autistic. But that wasn't all she was.

She was just a girl at heart.


End file.
